Fun environment, really good culture. Strong emphasis on WL balance. The firm really tried to create a cohesive environemnt for everyone to come together

Cons

You end up doing a bunch of stress testing work again and again. Might tell you you can explore other interests, but it's not often the case. It's easy to get stuck doing one thing at the company if you're not careful. You can find yourself doing 14 months of insurance work back to back without expressing any interest in it.

Advice to Management

More visibility into current project across the firm, better integration of GMC/FS. In my two years at the firm, both compensation and promotion structure changes against consultants. This is not a startup company, and to reflect OW's maturity I'd try to have such frequent upheavals

Incredibly smart and talented people; Constantly challenged and learning new things; Opportunity to experience and "become an expert" in a variety of industries; Very transparent about salaries and promotions; Opportunities to take leaves of absence (with benefits) or do a non-profit fellowship (at 60% pay)

Cons

Major inconsistencies between projects (i.e. travel, hours, management), which makes each employee's experience vary widely, and often errs on the side of terrible work-life balance; Regional and industry business varies widely and dramatically effects each office culture; Considerable change in management and high-level structure over the past year; Poor retention of women - a widely acknowledged challenge

Lots of exposure and responsibility right out of the gate. Managers tend to be good on-the-job trainers. I really liked most of my project managers.

Cons

UPDATED: Management just announced changes such that employees will not receive cross-project reviews until they've been at the firm for nearly 2 years. That means you get the same pay, same title, same lack of recognition for 2 years. Their rationale? It balances out in the long run. What this explicitly means: If you're not planning on staying in consulting for the long-run, OW doesn't care about you. Staffing is a nightmare. If you tell ANYONE what your preferences are, everyone somehow hears that you're a whiner and not willing to do whatever the firm needs you to do... Work-life balance is a joke. Upper management talks about it a lot but partners don't care. Weekends? Holidays? What? Zero exit-opportunity support. Again, if you're leaving the firm, they don't care about you. No programs, no externships (I know there are articles on OW's website, but I've never heard of such an opportunity in real life) The firm is perpetually losing money, so terrible bonuses. There's always something to blame it on. My first year's excuse: Tough market. Second year: We spent so much time last year trying to get our act together internally that we forgot to sell work. Whoops. "We'll knock it out of the park next quarter though!"

Advice to Management

Consider your consultants (all consultants) a long-term investment. Whether or not they want to get up to partner, they could still hire you in the future. Make them want to hire you.